Miasma
Miasma is a story driven turn based strategy game set in a bleak future were you play as a character that has just awoken and found themselves with no memory of who they are or how they got to where they are. They soon discover that they are part of a small cell of freedom fighters battling against an evil corporation that rules the world.
The game itself is played on a series of grid based areas where you control three characters and have a variety of objectives to complete.
Each character has a set number of action points (APs) that can be used during your turn.
Movement, attacking, using items and special moves all cost a set amount of APs, so you must plot your actions carefully to outmanoeuvre your opponent.
Once you are done, you end your turn and the enemy AI takes theirs, this cycle is repeated until either all your characters are dead, or you complete the objectives set out at the beginning of the stage.
Defeating enemies earns you experience points (XP) and completed stages are rewarded with Euro Dollars.
Each character has their own stats and a special ability (a medic that can heal, a sniper that can throw EMP grenades, and an all-rounder that can use a cloaking device), the use of special abilities is governed by a meter that charges over time, once it's full they can be triggered at will during your turn.
After completing each stage you return to the HQ where you can save your progress, spend Euro Dollars on items like health packs, and use any XP you've earned on upgrading your characters stats.
The graphics in Miasma are all rendered in 3D, with some quite nice character models and animations.
The play areas are quite large and offer a good amount of strategic options, with things like cover, distance and flanking all affecting the amount of damage inflicted during attacks.
The storyline is a fairly typical sci-fi yarn and feels more like the first chapter of a longer narrative than a complete one, with proceedings ending on a somewhat unsatisfactory point.
It's mainly told through written dialogue, and the game offers you the occasional choice of what to say, however it doesn't seem to affect anything other than other character's responses.
Once you are done with the main game, you can chose to re-start while keeping any upgrades you've made to your character's stats.
A survival mode is also available, where you can take your customized characters and pit them against waves of enemies in a large arena.
This features it's own local leaderboards and encourages re-playing the main game, as the more you've upgraded your squad the further you'll be able to progress.
Overall, Miasma is a decent strategy game that shows perhaps more potential than what it actually accomplishes.
The gameplay systems offer sufficient depth to be interesting, but not so much as to put newcomers off.
The main game is not particularly difficult and should certainly be beatable by most players, but feels a little short.
Survival Mode offers a real challenge, but with just one map available it's a bit of a missed opportunity.
However, at such a low cost, it's well worth the asking price.